Bather&#39;s trunks



May 11, 1937. F. J. WENGEN 2,080,246

BATHERS TRUNKS Filed Jan. 6, 1936 64' w 1N VEN TOR.

TTORNEY Patented May 11, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Eagle Knitting Mills, Inc., Milwaukee, corporation of Wisconsin Wis., a

Application January 6, 1936, Serial No. 57,710

1 Claim.

My present invention relates in general to improvements in the art of manufacturing garments, and relates more specifically to improvements in the construction of trunks especially adapted to be utilized by bathers or the like.

Generally defined, an object of my present invention is to provide an improved trunk structure having a resilient waist band of new and useful construction.

In the manufacture of bathing garments, it has heretofore been common practice to provide resilient waist bands of various types for the purpose of retaining trunks in proper position upon the wearers bodies. In some of these prior retaining structures which were used in conjunction with knitted garments, rubber threads were knitted or woven directly into the fabric to provide a resilient belt portion formed integral with the garment. In another of these prior types, an elastic band was attached by stitching, directly to the stretchable waist portion of the garment. Neither of these prior types provided for any adjustability in tension of the resilient belt, nor did they provide means for taking up excess slack due to stretching of the. elastic or initial oversize thereof. If the elastic belt of one of the prior garments became permanently elongated or enlarged due to stretching, it was necessary to either replace or shorten the belt by sewing a 0 pleat therein, or to provide a separate belt for holding the trunk in place. Then too, the prior belt structures due to their lack of adjustment, necessitated carrying numerous sizes of garments in order to fit various waist lines.

It is therefore a more specific object of the present invention to provide an improved bathers garment or the like, having an elastic waist engaging portion provided with means for conveniently adjusting the size and tension thereof so as to insure comfortable coaction of the Waist band with the wearers body at all times.

Another specific object of the invention is the provision of an improved bathers trunk having an extremely neat and attractive appearance, and

provided with belt straps which originally serve merely to enhance the neat appearance of the garment, but which may also be utilized in conjunction with an ordinary detachable belt.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide an improved garment for bathers or the like, which can be manufactured in a minimum number of standard sizes so as to fit various waist line measurements.

Still another specific object of the invention is the provision of an improved belt adjustment for garments having permanently attached resilient belt bands, whereby the effective lengths of the bands, as well as the tension thereof, may be quickly varied.

These and'other objects of my present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

A clear conception of an embodiment of the present invention, and of the mode of constructing and of utilizing bathers trunks made in accordance with the improvement, may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. 1 is a front view of one of the improved bathers trunks provided with an elastic waist band having means for varying the effective length thereof, and showing the band in relaxed condition;

Fig. 2 is a part sectional fragment of the garment of Fig. 1, showing the elastic waist band in stretched condition; and

Fig. 3 is a top view of the garment showing the same in the condition of Fig. 1.

While the improvement has been shown and described herein as being specifically applied to a bathers trunk of a particular style, it is not the intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the scope, since the improvement may obviously be advantageously applied to other types and styles of trunks or garments.

Referring to the drawing, the improved garment comprises a main body 5 formed of stretchable knitted material such as cotton or Wool fabric; an elastic band 6 permanently attached by rows of elastic stitching 1, directly to the external waist portion of the body 5 to simulate an ordinary belt; a series of belt straps 8 also permanently attached to the body 5 and extending loosely across or over the band 6; and a pair of relatively adjustable strap sections 9, in secured to the body 5 and band 6 beneath the front straps 8 and cooperating with friction rings H for the purpose of permitting variation in the effective length of the band 5.

As above indicated, the main body 5 is preferably formed of knitted fabric at least at the waist portion thereof, in order to insure proper elasticity of this portion of the garment, and the opposite sides of the body 5 may be provided with decorative striping l2. The elastic band 6 which completely surrounds the waist portion of the body 5, may be formed of any suitable elastic material having rubber or other elastic strands embedded therein, and any desired number of rows of elastic stitching 1 may be provided in order to firmly and permanently attach the band 6 to the body 5. The belt straps 8 are of usual construction, and will permit the use of an ordinary separate belt in conjunction with the garment, in case the elastic band 6 should become ineffective for its intended purpose.

The front straps 8 also serve to normally conceal the stitching I3 which secures the ends of the adjusting strap sections 9, H] to the garment, and the rings ll of the adjusting device are permanently suspended from the looped strap section 9. The adjusting strap section II) is insertable through and cooperable with the rings H, as shown in Fig. 3, to vary the limits of possible separation of the front belt straps 8, thereby providing means for varying the extent to which the portion of the band 6 between these front belt straps may be stretched. When the strap section ID has been adjusted relative to the section 9, and the free end of the section is inserted beneath the adjacent strap 8 as in Fig. 2, the rings II will clamp and frictionally retain the adjusting device in position.

The normal use of the garment should be obvious from the foregoing description thereof, and it will be apparent that any desired degree of waist band tension may be secured by proper relative adjustment of the strap sections 9, It For example, by shortening the distance or possible extent of separation of the front belt straps 8, the garment may be caused to coact comfortably with a human body having a relatively small waist line; whereas lengthening of this distance or degree of possible separation of the front straps 8, will permit comfortable cooperation of the elastic belt with larger waist lines. This feature will permit usage of one size of the improved garment by persons having various lengths of waist lines, and will also permit convenient adjustment of the supporting belt to compensate for permanent stretching of the belt.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the present invention provides an extremely durable and flexible trunk structure, which is neat and dressy in appearance and which can moreover be adjusted to comfortably fit the body of a wearer. While the garment is provided with an efficient elastic waist band, an ordinary belt may be utilized in conjunction therewith in case the elastic band becomes ineffective for its intended purpose. The adjusting strap sections provide simple and most efiective means for varying the waist line size of the garment, and the belt straps 8 besides producing a neat and finished appearance, serve to permit the use of an ordinary belt as above indicated. While a particular type of adjusting device has been shown and described, the adjustment may obviously be efiected by other means such as an adjusting buckle applied directly to loose ends of the band 6 at the front of the garment.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claim may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

A garment comprising, a body having a con tinuous stretchable waist embracing portion, a continuous elastic band secured directly to and completely encircling said waist embracing body portion, relatively inelastic strap sections secured to spaced portions of said band and having portions remote from their attached ends cooperable with each other, and adjusting clamps connecting said strap section portions and being cooperable therewith to vary the effective length of said band.

FRANK J. WENGEN. 

